Illinois Southern District Judge David Dugan
GRANITE CITY - A federal judge in Southern Illinois said a former landlord can’t sue Granite City on claims they illegally cited him for ordinance violations on properties he no longer owned.
Kevin Link claimed Granite City officials have acted “with an eye toward ending small home rental business” in the community. Feeling he was no longer welcome, Link sold all his rental properties in the community, according to court documents. After he closed on those sales, the city issued him more than a dozen citations, allegedly for failure to comply with different ordinances, according to court documents.
Although public records reflect Link no longer owned the properties, Granite City contended Link failed to “deregister” them as his rentals. But Link noted there is no requirement to do so or any process governing such "deregistration." Court records are unclear on whether Link was made to pay fines as a result of the citations.
In an opinion filed Dec. 18, U.S. District Judge David Dugan granted Granite City’s motion to dismiss the complaint.
The city argued Link failed to state a claim for which a court could grant relief. It said Link failed to establish the city acted in a way that deprived his civil rights because the complaint “does not sufficiently allege a policy or custom of constitutional violations on the part of the city,” Dugan wrote. “To do this, a plaintiff needs to show that there have been enough similar incidents to establish a pattern of conduct.”
Link insisted the fact he got more than a dozen citations, involving more than a dozen parcels, is evidence of a deliberate, albeit de facto, “municipal crusade against (Link) and rental property.” However, Dugan wrote, the complaint “identifies no other property owner, landlord or citizen who received citations for properties they no longer owned. It describes only (Link’s) personal experience.”
Dugan said a plaintiff can establish a government has a widespread custom or practice based only on their own experience, but the bar for making such a case is harder to clear and requires allegation of a “true municipal policy, not a random or isolated event.” He called Link’s accusations conclusory.
“The vague reference to ‘rental property,’ and the legal conclusion that the city ‘maintains a policy of failing to check public property ownership records prior to issuing citations’ are boilerplate allegations and contribute nothing to plausibility,” Dugan wrote. “Additionally, the court finds that the complaint fails to sufficiently allege (Link) suffered a deprivation of a federally protected right.”
Notably, Dugan said, the complaint “does not explain how the issuance of the citation or citations, however erroneous, rose to the level of a constitutional violation. To the extent that Plaintiff is attempting to assert a malicious prosecution theory of liability (the only constitutional claim the court can plausibly discern), he has not alleged the required elements, including termination of the underlying proceedings in his favor or the absence of probable cause.”
Dugan gave Link 14 days to amend his complaint, absent which the ruling will be converted to a dismissal with prejudice.
Link is represented in the action by attorney Thomas G. Maag, of the Maag Law Firm, of Wood River.
Granite City is represented by attorneys Erin M. Phillips and Bradley C. Young, of Unsell, Schattnik, & Phillips, of Wood River.
